Discovery Romanian - Dobrogea - Seimeni– New shrines dedicated to the Sun, Pintilie Stefan-Cristian

Dobrogea – New shrines dedicated to the Sun

From the land where the Sun begins its journey into the sky, visiting the land of our country we obtain the latest findings on solar disk worship: five shrines dedicated to this cult.

In March this year, following the lead of discoveries represented by fortifications erected by Romans on the old banks of Danube to protect the ancient road along the Danube, my attention was drawn by the locality Seimeni. Located less than 10 km from the city Axiopolis, founded by the Greek origin king of Tracia, Lisimach, locality Seimeni has been first mentioned around 1600. Some of prince Constantin Şerban’s soldiers revolted against him and crossed the Danube. These soldiers were called seimeni, and it seems to have founded the locality with the same name. But archeological evidence argues that other people have been charmed by the beauty of the Danube riverbank, many centuries ago: in the south of this locality was discovered a settlement dating from Latene period.



Discoveries made early this year are surprising: runaway soldiers founded a new city just over a superb Thracian or Geto-Dacian sanctuary. In fact, much of the sanctuary was destroyed by building houses and by environmental factors (the lake), the whole area being subjected to erosion.


The most famous sanctuary in our country dedicated to Solar worship is the shrine of Sarmisegetuza, where the "Andesite Sun" has a diameter of 7.1 m. Compared with this, the shrine of Seimeni has 58 disks, possible stone slabs, each disk having a diameter of 20 m. In a single disk would fit a whole household: house, yard and annexes. Disks are separated 4.3 m thick walls, but, there are groups of two disks. On one of the disks, with a central position (the whole assembly is oval), there is a spiral shape, possibly a ramp to the supreme god.

Less than 25 km from Seimeni is a locality whose name is predestinated to accompany the first sanctuary discovered at Sun God shrine: the Bride. His crown is adorned with four smart disks of …. 28 m, located on the banks of a creek.

The parade does not leave us waiting: we simply have to look to the south of Dobrogea. Where sea waters insistently enter to the foothills, cooling it, there are two adjacent locations, Vîrtop and Albeşti. A small river creeps through the folds of the hills, vanishing in the bay’s flashes. It is silent witness of millennia of history and still keeps echoes of incantations arisen from mysterious plateaus of the two sanctuaries, along with springs’ water.

From the sanctuary at the eastern limit of the town of Vîrtop other two disks with diameters of 20 m can be seen, surrounded by walls, and from the sanctuary between Vîrtop and Albeşti there are other two 8 disks, two of them of 24 m in diameter and the rest of 20 m diameters.

Discoveries do not end here; the locality of Albeşti offers a new surprises: two large disks with diameter of 28 m, discovered in the south of the locality indicate the place of another sanctuary dedicated to the Sun.

The location of the sanctuaries on water streams (at Seimeni – on the Danube bank, at the Bride – on the banks of a creek, at Vîrtop and Albeşti – on the bank of Albeşti River) confirms the assumption that Getae worshipped waters. Strabo wrote about "sacred mouth" of Istru, where Getae conducted their cultural activities, and in his Geography speaks of the mountain enclosing Zalmoxis cave, considered holy along with the river flowing nearby.

Dio Cassius tells us that Decebal state treasury would be hidden under the riverbed of Sargeţia, after having diverted the water flow and returning it to its original riverbed. This certifies the religious nature of underwater objects, which have sacred virtues, in that Traian offered gods a gilded ox horn - a rhyton – taken from the Dacian treasure.

The legend of Sargiţia, existing long before Decebal - king Audeleon, in the story written by Diodorus of Sicilia, buried a treasure under river Sargenţia – reinforces the myth of living water, flowing water, where one can practice the ritual purification bathing.

The evidence for the religious importance of Solar disk in Dobrogea is the size of discovered shrines  - the sanctuary of Seimeni covers an areas of 500,000 square meters, and their density – on a distance of 70 km there are not less than five shrines dedicated to this worship.

This book, read only half of it, still has to elucidate many mysteries and future explorations of these archeological sites will certainly uncover surprising mysteries.